Iceland captain Gunnarsson joins Qatar's Al Arabi

Bengaluru/Doha, March 21: Iceland captain Aron Gunnarsson, who currently plies his trade with Premier League club Cardiff City, has reportedly signed a two-year contract with Qatar's Al Arabi Sports Club.

Al Arabi, who are currently sixth in the Qatar Stars League, made the announcement on their Twitter handle.

The statement said Gunnarsson, whose Cardiff contract expires at the end of the season, will have an option of a third year with Al Arabi.

نجحت إدارة النادي #العربي في التعاقد مع قائد منتخب ايسلندا لكرة القدم ارون #غونارسون ( ٢٩ سنة ) لاعب وسط فريق كارديف سيتي الإنجليزي لمدة موسمين مع قابلية التجديد لموسم ثالث . #Gunnarsson pic.twitter.com/8hr3xnWLM9

— Al-Arabi Sports Club (@alarabi_club) March 19, 2019

The midfielder joined Cardiff in 2011 and helped them earn promotion to the Premier League last season.

At Al Arabi, he will be joining former Iceland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson who became the club's head coach in December.

The 29-year-old is the Bluebird's current longest-serving player having played 278 games, scoring 25 goals. He has played in 20 of Cardiff's 30 Premier League games this season, netting once against Wolves in November.

Gunnarsson, who has 81 caps for his country and has been their captain since 2012, has overseen both their inaugural major tournament appearances at Euro 2016 in France and the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

He was one of the heroes of their maiden Euro Cup campaign in 2016 where they stunned England 2-1 in the pre-quarterfinals before going down 2-5 to France in the quarterfinals.